KANSAS CITY, Mo. — A judge is now deciding whether to allow a jury to determine the competency of Fredrick Scott, the man accused in Kansas City's Indian Creek Trail killings.
Six people were killed, and five of them were on or near the trail.
Scott was arrested and charged in his role in their deaths, but he's still awaiting his trial eight years later.
In court Friday, his defense acknowledged this is the longest pending trial in Jackson County and maybe even in the entire state of Missouri.
The wait has been due to Scott fluctuating in and out of mental competency, at times linked to his refusal to take his medicine for schizophrenia.
VOICE FOR EVERYONE | Share your voice with KSHB 41’s Caitlin Knute
Most recently, the Missouri Department of Mental Health did an evaluation on Scott and determined he was competent to stand trial.
However, a private evaluation the defense requested showed Scott was incompetent.
The defense would like a jury to decide instead of the judge.
However, in court Friday, the state argued that while there are provisions for the defense to request an advisory jury before a person is committed to the DMH, there’s no specific provision that says that’s an option after a person has been committed to the DMH, as is the case now for Scott.
The defense argued that while it doesn’t reference that option being allowed, it doesn’t preclude it either.
Previous legal experts KSHB 41 has spoken to have agreed that it’s highly unusual to ask for a jury to determine mental competency.
RELATED | Families of alleged serial killer's victims still waiting for trial
The family of one of Scott’s alleged victims, Mike Darby, was in court again Friday.
As KSHB 41 has previously reported, their family, along with many others, have been incredibly frustrated by the exceptionally long wait time for this trial to take place.
The judge in the case is taking this under consideration and expects to release a decision early next week.
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